


Knight in Shining Leather

by thesquidliesthuman



Series: Original Characters Doing Original Things [1]
Category: Original Work, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Alex is in a hospital during the not flashback scenes, Also warnings because Darya's boyfriend is an ass, And uh I think that's it, Darya is too but not like hurt or anythiing, F/M, I think this may be the longest thing I've ever written tbh, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, It's an outsiders au!, Period-Typical Transphobia, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, but not like a lot, enemies(ish) to lovers (sorta), for my characters, go me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 09:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17019816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesquidliesthuman/pseuds/thesquidliesthuman
Summary: “Hey, bud, if you think I’m bad you should take a look at yourself. You have no right to talk to her that way.” Alex said cooly, “Especially if you’re her boyfriend.” Alex stood his ground, looking right into Nick’s eyes when Nick turned around to face him. “And furthermore, I didn’t just show up, this here is Greaser turf, and you both happen to be trespassing here. Imagine if your little dame happened to run into anyone but me, buster."“What’s your name?” Nick asked, anger and venom lacing what was probably supposed to be a calm tone.“Alex. Alex Hatfield.” Alex’s response was confident, not breaking under Nick’s harsh glare, “don’t you forget it, because I want you to ask about that name and let the stories about me pierce your heart and thaw it. I want those tales to strike fear into your soul, making you afraid to ever treat a person the way you treat Darya again, you hear me?”





	Knight in Shining Leather

**Author's Note:**

> hey Darya and Nick belong to @thebestfairymom jsyk

Alex looked up at the white ceiling, blinking slowly. He didn’t remember much, all he knew right now was that he felt exhausted. However, something in the back of his mind was telling him not to go back to sleep. Well, that and he really wanted to get out of this hospital. 

 

The first fully coherent thought he had that didn’t involve forcing himself to stay awake or getting out of the hospital was how much he missed his leather jacket. Not that he meant to be a stereotype or anything, but his leather jacket was a signature part of him. That was how most people recognized him, he wasn’t the leader of the Hatfield gang without it. And not having it on him now just felt wrong.

 

Of course, a lot of this felt wrong. Why was he here in the first place? He felt fine, sort of. It’s not like he hadn’t gotten hurt before, and those times he just went on with his day. Why should it be any different now?

 

Bam. A memory hits Alex out of nowhere. Nowhere? Or was his life of 19 years flashing before his very eyes? He couldn’t tell, all he knew was that he’d been there before, but who was that across from him?

 

_ The two of them stood, glaring at each other. Alex yanked at his own jacket, a habit he picked up when he wanted to feel and look stronger than the person he was confronting. “What are you doing here, princess?” He started, taking a step closer. “Isn’t this a bit far from your west-side?” _

 

_ The girl; a blond soc with blue-grey eyes that had her short-seeming hair pulled back into a high ponytail, wearing an outfit comprised mostly of pastel colors that made her look somewhat childish when matched with her height; stepped back when he stepped forward, seemingly frightened but trying her best to play it cool, “I just got lost, I was about to head home. What’s a girl like you doing out here playin’ all Ms. Big-Britches?” _

 

_ Alex rolled his eyes, taking a small step back of his own while pretending not to be affected by the comment, “sure, yeah. Not a girl, by the way, surprising, I know. Tell me, Barbie. What do you think you know about this part of town?”  _

 

_ The soc seemed surprised by the question, deciding to ignore it and instead of commenting on Alex’s nickname of choice, “my name’s not Barbie… it’s Darya.” _

 

That’s right! Darya, the 18-year-old Soc, only a year younger than Alex was, with the wavy blond hair and the pretty eyes. The one that could probably pass for a 10-year-old with her young face and her short, slim stature. The one with the freckles on her nose that looked like the cutest stars Alex had ever seen. 

 

It was at this point that Alex slowly turned his head, as much as he could to a sound he hadn’t heard moments before. Crying. Somebody was. Alex’s vision was slightly spotty, and some of his messy, brown hair that presented itself in natural, tightly wound curls was in the way, but he managed to put together that the person crying next to him was, in fact, Darya herself. 

 

_ Alex let out a short chuckle, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jeans, “you got blond hair and lots of pinks? Congrats, you’re a Barbie. Now, why don’t you answer my question, sweetheart?” _

 

_ Darya paused, opening her mouth and then closing it again until finally, Alex got his answer. “I know that the people that live here are a bit poorer,” she began, “I know that the east-side is a bit… rougher. That this is the ‘turf’ of greasers.”  _

 

_ Alex interrupted Darya before she could say anything else,  immediately beginning to correct her, “we’re not a ‘bit’ poorer. We’re a lot poorer. Why do you think the guys around here can never afford to get a haircut?” He joked, pausing for a short, bitter laugh before continuing, “We’re a bit rougher over here, that’s true. Just know if we didn’t have to be, we would probably be a lot more like you.” _

 

_ Darya almost seemed offended by the very thought of this Greaser… thing… standing in front of her being even close to a Soc at any point, “what, so are you blaming us socs for whatever it is you do down here?”  _

 

_ Alex sighed, shifting his weight between his feet as he stared up at the sky, pretending to think while pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. “Yes, I am,” he said bluntly, his tone cold and sharp. Looking back to Darya with a harsh stare as he placed a cigarette between his lips. The stare alone forcing Darya to stay quiet. _

 

_ Alex lit the cigarette, putting the pack and lighter away as he took a quick drag before continuing. “Sure, maybe the socs don’t exactly force us to rob stores, maybe they’re not the ones to give us broken homes. The rough that you’re thinking of though? The Socs that come out of here with black eyes and broken noses? They should’ve just left us be.”  _

 

_ Darya looked like she had something she wanted to say, but Alex kept going, walking closer until Darya could no longer back away, her back hitting a street lamp. With another quick tug on his jacket, and a drag of the cigarette, smoke blown away from Darya’s face, he continued. “You guys think you’re so much better than we are. With your fancy clothes and hot guys and pretty cars. Well, I got news for you, doll. You’re all just as bad. Don’t pretend you know us if all you’re doing is sitting up in you’re precious westside towers.”  _

 

_ “And don’t pretend you know us any better!” Darya snapped back, taking a slightly daring step closer compared to all of the steps back she had taken beforehand. “Don’t pretend that everything you do can be justified because of circumstance! You all have the potential to great people, but you decide to fall back on the socs and the fact you live in the eastside to excuse your actions! You don’t need money or power to succeed, you know! Maybe if you followed the law you wouldn’t be such outcasts!” _

 

 _Alex grit his teeth, the problem wasn’t that Darya was so insufferably wrong that Alex couldn’t argue her on it. No, the problem was that she was_ right _,_ _mostly._ _Darya was_ right _, and it was honestly a little bit troubling to Alex. That and the growing tension that came from how close the two of them had gotten. Alex made the first move to step away, taking another drag and allowing the wind to carry his cigarette smoke into the clouds._

 

_ Those were going to be the last words between the two of them before walking away, never to see each other again. Really, that was going to be the end of it. Alex had just turned around before being faced with a big, male soc that had at least 3 inches on him, and Alex was roughly 5’9”, which is what made the height difference so concerning.  _

 

_ The soc scowled at Alex for a moment before looking around her to Darya, “Darya! Sweetheart! This mean old Greaser been botherin’ you?” His tone was sweet but if you looked into his eerily grey eyes you could tell that it was simply an act.  _

 

_ Darya seemed nervous the minute this soc popped into the picture, “actually, I believe we were just about to go, Nick. Right?” The expression she gave to Alex seemed frightened, nearly pleading.  _

 

_ Alex nodded, watching Darya’s expression for a moment before turning to face the new challenger with a stone-cold expression. “Yeah, I was just leaving. What do you want with her?” _

 

_ Nick, the new soc who now had a name, ran a hand through his cropped, raven-black hair. His teeth grit slightly before he made an attempt to look as friendly as he possibly could. “I’m her boyfriend, actually. You, however, have no business asking about why I’d just like to spend time with my  _ lovely _ girlfriend, freak.” _

 

_ Alex thought for a moment, showing Nick a smirk as he did so, “how did a creep like you end up with a Barbie doll like her? Shouldn’t you be the Ken doll type?” He glanced towards Darya, trying to give her a signal to leave while he distracted Nick. Darya began to slowly step away, wandering towards a darker looking alleyway before Nick whipped around. _

 

_ “Where do you think you’re going? You’re gonna stay right there and explain to me what you were doing hanging around this… creature…  that decided to show up.” Nick took a step closer to reach for Darya, but Alex grabbed his wrist before he could.  _

 

_ “Hey, bud, if you think I’m bad you should take a look at yourself. You have no right to talk to her that way.” Alex said cooly, “ _ Especially  _ if you’re her boyfriend.” Alex stood his ground, looking right into Nick’s eyes when Nick turned around to face him. “And furthermore, I didn’t just  _ show up _ , this here is Greaser turf, and you both happen to be trespassing here. Imagine if your little dame happened to run into anyone but me, buster." _

 

_ “What’s your name?” Nick asked, anger and venom lacing what was probably supposed to be a calm tone. _

 

_ “Alex. Alex Hatfield.” Alex’s response was confident, not breaking under Nick’s harsh glare, “don’t you forget it, because I want you to ask about that name and let the stories about me pierce your heart and thaw it. I want those tales to strike fear into your  _ soul _ , making you afraid to  _ ever _ treat a person the way you treat Darya again, you hear me?” _

 

“Darya?” Alex’s voice was weak, and the sound of it made him wince a bit as Darya looked up, “what are you doing here, doll?” Darya let out a sigh of relief through her tears and looked like if she could’ve wrapped her arms around Alex she definitely would have.

 

“ _ Thank god, _ you’re okay. I- I thought-” Darya let out a small sob that cut off her words. She looked awful, clothes wrinkled from seemingly have sat in the same spot for multiple hours. Her hair slightly oily, her eyes sunken in with deep, plum colored bags. The sight before him broke Alex’s heart a little.

 

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” Alex asked as if he wasn’t currently trapped in a hospital with wavering consciousness, “only a few scratches, I’ve had worse.” His response did not seem to reassure Darya in the least, considering the injuries that Alex had were much more severe than a “few scratches”.

 

“The,” Darya took a deep breath, in order to calm herself down a little, “the fight- they jumped you- don’t you remember?” She looked at him with an expression Alex couldn’t quite name, a mix of both worry and confusion.

 

_ Alex was walking back to his place by himself, after escorting one of their younger crew back to their home. It was dark, the sun had just completely erased itself from the sky. It was a fairly nice evening until a red mustang just happened to drive up next to Alex. The car stopped, and Alex simply kept walking, if not picking up his pace a little bit. When five socs, Nick among them, piled out of the car and grabbed him, however, he couldn’t exactly just walk away. _

 

Alex softly sighed, turning his head back up to look at the ceiling, “yeah, yeah. I remember. Nick’s at least been leaving you alone now, right?” Darya nodded, before realizing that Alex couldn’t see her.

 

“Rumor has it that he skipped town, supposedly some friends of yours went and had a bit of a… discussion, with him.” Darya answered, cautiously taking one of Alex’s hands in her own, “I’m sorry they did this to you, they had absolutely no right to-”

 

“Hey now,” Alex’s voice interrupted Darya’s thoughts and her words, cutting her off before she could rush into an endless apology, “you have no reason to apologize. I talked back to him, should’ve kept my mouth shut. Lesson learned. I say before I get beat just because my mouth moves faster than my brain does.” 

 

He let Darya take his hand, rubbing circles onto the back of Darya’s hand with his thumb, “just breathe, sweetheart.” Darya stayed quiet, glancing towards Alex’s lips. Alex noticed this, and softly chuckled, “what, are you going to kiss your  **knight in shining leather** ?”

 

Darya did just that. 


End file.
